Top Hipster Hangout Spots In St. Louis

May 24, 2012 6:00 AM

Hipsters know where to get a good price on a cold PBR. They also know where to shoot pool, play Pacman and hear underground music. St. Louis hipster hangouts run the spectrum from dingy dive bars to to full-blown nightclubs. Here’s the low-down on the best scenester spots in the Lou.

Atomic Cowboy is the St. Louis nightclub for urban bohemians. Atomic offerings include the Foxhole venue for bands and burlesque, an outdoor fire pit, and a full Hispanic-inspired menu. Sunday Salsa night, swing dance on Thursdays, open mike Mondays, $1 PBR and $3 rail on Wednesdays are just a few weekly highlights. The outdoor mural of a cowgirl sitting saucily astride a rocket should give you a clue that this is the place for the sexiest of scenesters.

CBGB is the local dive bar for cheap hipsters, smokers and brokesters. There’s no better people-watching perch than CBGB’s large patio on South Grand. The dark, smoky bar is known for serving up strong, cheap drinks, including $2 PBR bottles. Vintage diversions (for nights there’s no band) include, darts, shuffleboard, Pacman and pinball. The chair seats are somewhat torn and the ladies’ room has two toilets that face each other (so you can play cards with a gal pal?) but you won’t mind too much after drinking one of the signature “gin buckets.”

The Tin Can is a clean, friendly, come-as-you-are kind of place. There’s a pool room downstairs, a dining room upstairs, and in between is the heart of the establishment: the corrugated tin bar. Beer is served in cans here (hence the name) and patrons are given a beer coozy to decorate and use whenever they visit. The only beer on tap here is PBR. The bar is an intimate venue for open mike night and small bands. The menu includes simple items like bacon burgers and mini corn dogs. Tin Can serves up a full Sunday brunch as well, including $5 biscuits and gravy.

The Royale is the definitive spot for upscale hipsters in the Lou. Besides DJs and record-spinning, events in the past year have included a poetry reading, a speakeasy dinner, an ACLU happy hour, and a Kentucky Derby party. The outdoor courtyard is beautiful and the interior is clean, fresh and smoke-free. Drinks are mostly creative takes on classics, named after St. Louis neighborhoods (like the Bevo Old-Fashioned, a sugar cube muddled in aromatic bitters, bourbon, ice and lemon peel.)

Photo Credit: Thinkstock.com

Black Thorn Pub3735 Wyoming St.
Saint Louis, MO 63116
(314) 776-0534

A true dive bar, complete with strategically-placed duct tape, Black Thorn is best known for its deep-dish Chicago-style pizza. The pies here are so good that patrons are willing to order at the bar, circle like vultures to get a table, and wait as long as necessary for their pizza to come out of the single oven. Nobody minds waiting, though, because this neighborhood bar offers darts, shuffleboard, Pacman, pinball, air hockey and shuffleboard, as well as a good variety of cold beers on tap. Or post up by the jukebox and play some tunes while you wait–just don’t expect to hear a ton of top 40 music, as this isn’t exactly where people go to dance the night away. If all other options have been exhausted and you’re still waiting on your pie, kill time reading the plethora of inscriptions, funny anecdotes and philosophical messages left by former patrons that have accumulated and now permanently adorn the pub’s walls.

Use the comments space below to tell us about your favorite St. Louis hipster spots.

Lauren Haas is a writer who specializes in finding the fun! Lauren was the publisher of the St. Louis Area Family Gazette for eight years, and now writes freelance articles on St. Louis events and attractions, budget travel, arts and entertainment and fitness topics. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.